"It's not going to tie up everything - that's not with this is about," Leonard told TV Guide. "I think the show is going to end very abruptly and in a very surprising way because, as happens in life, you don't live the ending. You just live your life."

Laurie also suggested that viewers should not expect a radical personality change for his character.

"There is something defiant about him, and I think the worst possible thing would be to see his spirit broken," he explained. "I would find that depressing and that would make me unhappy."

Series creator David Shore previously promised that the veteran drama will get "a fitting ending".